Fish tanks and Abandoned Fics

[aearwen2]

Well, that's that done for the next year or so...



My son JJ has a 26gal fish tank in the living room that is his personal pride & joy - up until it comes time to tear the thing completely to pieces (kind of) and clean the thing. Just changing filter items is a "hey Mom, wanna help?" number, so something this intensive and complete means Mom (me) is fully involved and working hard, not just directing.

Mind you, JJ is functionally illiterate - and not for both lack of trying on the school system and his own determination. He knows his letters, knows the sounds they individually make, but simply canNOT make the jump to sounds in combination equally words. Here he is, 33 years old, and telling me point blank that he's getting "sick and tired of not being able to read." He wants to drive a car - something I told him he could do when he shows me that he can read street signs and traffic directions. He wants to be able to read the news - and he's finally mentally mature enough to want to vote in this year's catastrophe of an election, altho until he can read party platforms and decide which one matches his thinking, he's officially "Undeclared."

So, anyway, one golden gourami, one golden angel fish, two headlight tetras and an albino plecostomus are currently in a 1gal container (an old baby guppy tank) while the water in their big home clears after all the cleaning. A huge, space-hogging plant has been removed, and new plants now populate and punctuate the scenery. Fresh, colorful gravel is sprinkled on top, and the redundant filters are patiently pumping away.

What a job!!! I'll be glad if/when JJ is ever able to simply take charge and do all the work himself.





I used to read a lot of LOTR fanfics, altho I was generally pretty picky about the ones I did read. One fic that I was utterly addicted to had a huge following, and moved very successfully from the Pit of Voles (aka. FFN) to a Yahoo group to avoid grief from those who simply couldn't stomach anything AU. Everything was fine, but about six years ago, the authors (it was a collaboration) simply stopped posting.

Their readers nudged and prodded, and from time to time a promise "we'll have a new chapter out by Christmas" was forthcoming - and little else. In essence, it has been six years since anything has been posted.

I give you this backstory because I found this story again not that long ago, read it from beginning to where it was dropped - and my Muse kicked up a royal fuss, insisting that she knew what she wanted to happen in the story and pushing me to begin writing it since the authors apparently didn't give a damn anymore.

Now mind you, I have absolutely NO intention of posting this stuff anywhere - this is all for my own personal amusement in lieu of satisfaction from those who created the story. I'm not stupid, but I'm also getting annoyed. One doesn't promise anything if one doesn't intend to deliver, and these writers clearly have moved on and have broken promises.

So the reason I'm telling you this is that I have a question for you: Should I write to said authors telling them what I'm doing and ask if they ever intend to actually return to finish the story - or should I just write my own ending and let matters rest there?

No, I'm not telling the title of the story or the authors' names. This is more a question about the principles of fan fiction: at what point do I cross that line between that which is permitted and that which isn't?

I'll appreciate the feedback, trust me!

And that's what's going on in my neck of the woods of late.

Comments

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

If I stopped a story, or erased it - which I do often - I wouldn't want anyone to finish it. I suppose I could not stop anyone from writing an ending to a story I left unfinished and erased, but I would be annoyed if someone told me her plans to play in my sandbox. But that's me. I don't like my stories to be linked without my permission or translated.

I know that's a lot, given the fact that we all use other people's universes to write in them, but the stories are mine - as much as fanfiction allow them to be mine.

I would never promise to finish something if I'm not planning to do it, though. I'd erase the whole story if I was the author.

[samtyr.livejournal.com]

First, I'd make a copy of it (the fic in question) just for my own pleasure. I'd do this for the simple reason I have found so many good fics, only to have them disappear for whatever reason.

Second, I would then write and ask permission from the authors. You might get lucky and they will say yes. :)

Third, I would go ahead and write it but never post anywhere. (I have found that thwarting a muse is never a good idea, tbh.)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

There's no reason you shouldn't write your own ending to the story. It wouldn't worry me if it were my story. After all, we are all writing our own variations of different stories. Once a story is out there it is open to interpretation and has been seen cavemen told stories round the fire.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Write your own ending, but keep it private. They don't need to know or give permission as long as it never passes past your computer screen.

*hugs* to you for the effort involved in cleaning the fish tank. I know it's a big job, but the fish will appreciate it.

Maybe JJ might be able to pull off reading if he wants it enough. Sometimes that's what it takes. You never know what crazy things can happen in the human brain over time.

- Erulisse (one L)

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

I don't write WIPs, so it's very possible I just don't Get It, but I think if they've left it up at various archives, they're not exactly trying to take it out of the public eye. What that tells me is it's as okay as it ever was to complete it, and I'm a firm believer that once something is put out in public like that, it's okay to build on it for our private enjoyments to consume .... creatively, as it were. Not necessarily okay to put it out there where the original creator will see it or try to get some kind of profit, financial or social, but if you really don't want to publish it for other folks, that's not an issue.

I'd question, though, whether it's all that wise to contact the author. For one, it forces them to confront the knowledge someone's tinkering with their fic, and I'm not sure that's really necessary. You also seem frustrated and I'd worry that could bleed through. I guess I don't see the need for it, and I think the risks of going that route are substantial.

(Also, I have an inkling what story this is and with the authors I'm thinking of, I don't see this ending well. But even generally, I think it's risky and unnecessary at best...)